In the past, in an image forming apparatus of an ink jet system for performing printing with a head configured to eject ink, as recovery means for eliminating air bubbles and foreign matters from the periphery of nozzles of the head, there is known a technique for collecting the ink not ejected by the head and remaining in the head and circulating and supplying the ink to the head again (see, for example, JP-A-09-104120 and JP-A-2006-159811).
In the related art, a configuration for directly pressing the ink with a pump to circulate and supply the ink to the head is disclosed.
However, when the configuration for directly pressing the ink with the pump is adopted, it is likely that pulsation of pressure generated because of a mechanism of the pump is directly transmitted to the head and affects ink ejection performance of the ink in the head.